Method of making artificial limbs.



A. F. WINKLEY. METHOD 0F MAKING ARTIFICIAL LIMBS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22. I9I5.

su II Patented Mar. 20, 191?.

.UNITED STATES PATENT FFME.

ALBERT F. WINKLEY, 0F FARIBAULT, MINNESOTA.

METHOD OF MAKING ARTIFICIAL .T IIVIIBS` Specication of Letters Patent.

rati-,atea Mar. 2o, 1917.;

Application filed May 22, 1915. Serial No. 29,735.

vTo all whom it may concern:

Be it knownithat I, ALBERT F. IVINKLEY,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Faribault, in the county of Rice and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making 4Artificial Limbs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to articial limbs four days, the liber becomes softened and 7 it then can be shaped or formed. Artificial limbs have in the past been made from berby employing sheet fiber and lapping the A edges of thesame over the limb form, or

if tubular fiber has been used this has'been cut along'one edge `and the edges lapped during the forming period, said edges in either case afterward being trimmed to come flush and fastened with a binding. Inthe practice of my invention I employ a tubular fiber shell. After the same hasbeen properly softened I place the same over a spe- -cial form, after which by winding a rope progressively over said form I am enabled to draw the shell into shape upon the form. It will then harden in the form of artificial limb desired. The collapsible' form comprises a central member which may readily be removed, after which the side members may be removed\and a seamless, artiiicial limb results.

It is important in this connection to note thatthe winding o f the rope about the form.

i .from the upper part toward the ankle has the result of moving material downwardly tothe ankle portion of the limb, thereby much thickening the ankle portioii while the larger upper portions are made correspondingly thinner.- This results in strengthening the limb at the point where' the foot member is attached and the greatest strain takes place. The form or mold can be made of wood, iron or'other material and, of course, a series of'such molds will be necessary for shaping limbs of different sizes.

well-known methods.

Each 'mold can, however, be used repeatedly as it is in no respect injured by use. The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof and are particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the' drawings, illustrating the application of my invention in one form,-y

Figure 1- is an elevational View of the cylindrical shell of which the artificial limb 'lsmade Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 8 1s a side elevational view of the mold` assembled. Fig 4 is a top plan view of the mold assembled and Fig. 5 is a front eleva-A tionalview of the same.

Fig. 6 is a side elevational sectional view through the center of the mold and limb showing the center member of the mold partly removed. Fig.

the limb and mold, one of the outer members of the mold shifted and ready to be removed from the limb. Fig. 8 is a plan section through thethicker portion of the limb and the mold showing the last two members ofthe mold shifted and ready to be withdrawn from the limb. Fig. 9 is a side perspective view of the finished shell member of the artificial limb.

The following is my improved method of manufacturing seamless shell members of artificial limbs,

A mold comprising a central member 10V 'having tapered sides and four or more outer 'members 11, 12, 13 and 14 fitting thereto is assembled and fastened together by means of the screws 15. Thecontour of the mold exactly resembles that of the limb to be duplicated except that the diametral dimenis a front elevational sectional View of f sions all differ from those. of the original p limb by the thickness of the shell.

A seamless cylindrical shell 16 of fiber or other material of thel nature of cellulose is slipped over the mold and is made pliable by the application of heat or water or other In practice it ,has been found that most effectively to soften the ordinary commercial fiber it should be rsoaked in water three or four days before being applied to the form. The cylinder employed will beas large in diameter as the thickest part of the limb to be manufactured and will just slip over the form. After the softened cylinder has been placed over the form a rope is wound progressively about shaped seamless artilicial limb of fiber results. v

My invention provides a simple and effective means of removing the mold from the molded shell of the limb 13 as follows.

The screws 15 are removed from the mold and the members of the mold are now held together by the limb alone. Member 10 having tapered sides and being of the form of a truncated pyramid is first and most easily removed, withdrawing the same upward and vertically through the portion of the limb having vthe larger aperture, as best shown in Fig. 6. Members 14 and 12 are first shifted to the center of the leg at 17, as indicated in Fig. 7, and then withdrawn vertically and upward the same as member 10. Members 11 and 13 are then shifted to the center of the limb similarly to 12 and 14 at 19 and removed in an identical manner with the preceding members, leaving the shell member perfectly free from the mold and the mold lin a condition to be reasserrr bled and reused. In some cases it may be desirable to cut the form so as to make nine pieces instead of five, as indicated in Fig. 4, there being corner pieces 21 as wellas the pieces heretofore referred to. This would additionally facilitate a withdrawal of the members 12, 14 andv 11, 13.l

The limb resulting from the practice of my invention will be light in a high degree and at the same time extremely strong and durable. By thickening the material at the v smallA ankle portion 20 of the limb it is posl sible to use a shell of relatively small thick.

ness and thus additionally lighten the limb.

1 claim: 1.-' The method of making artificial limbs which consists in soaking a cylinder of fiber until the same has become soft, placing the cylinder in place upon a mold, progressively winding a cord about the cylinder from the knee to the ankle and gradually increasing the tension in the cord toward the ankle to cause the walls of the cylinder to become distorted to thicken the stock at the ankle, drying the material while the same is so formed, and thereafter removing the cord and withdrawing the mold, leaving a seamless member in the form desired.

2. The method of making artificial limbs vwhich consists in soaking a cylinder of fiber until the same becomes soft, placing the same in position upon a mold, progressively distorting and forming the cylinder upon the mold from one end thereof to the other while the same is softened to cause the walls of the .cylinder to become thickened at one end,

drying the material to restore its rigidity while the same is so formed, and thereafter withdrawing the mold, leaving a seamless member of the form desired.

3. r1`he method of making artificial limbs which consists in soaking a cylinder of fiber until the same has become soft, placing the cylinder in position upon the mold, progressively distorting and forming the cylinder upon a mold from the knee end to the ankle to cause the ankle to become relatively thicker than the knee while the cylinder is softened, drying the material to restore its rigidity while the same is so formed, and thereafter withdrawing the mold leaving a seamless member of the form desired.

4. The method of making artificial limbs which consists in soaking a cylinder of liber until the same has'become soft, placing the cylinder in position upon a mold, progressively winding a circular flexible member about the cylinder from the knee to the ankle to form the cylinder about the mold and to draw down a portion of the material about the knee toward the ankle to thicken the ankle while the cylinder is soft, drying the material While the same is so formed, and thereafter removing the flexible member and withdrawing the mold, leaving a seamless member Ain the form desired.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT F.'WINKLEY.

Witnesses: i

FRED MCCARTHY, RAYMOND G. ENDREs. 

